Incomplete Grades / Excused Absence from Final Exam
If an illness or other personal circumstance prevents a student from completing coursework by the end of the semester, or from taking a final exam at the scheduled time, the student may request an incomplete from the instructor. The University is prepared to work with the student and the faculty member to determine whether an Excused Absence (EA) and/or an Excused Incomplete (EI) may be appropriate. When such situations occur, students are encouraged to meet with their faculty member(s) to discuss the possibility of receiving an EA or EI, and to consult with their academic advisor if they have additional questions. For an EA or an EI to be granted, the instructor must agree on the extension, and the student must submit an Incomplete Request Form found here.
An approved EA or EI is a contract that is agreed upon by both the student and instructor at the end of the semester.
The EA or EI notation serves as a temporary placeholder until the work has been completed by the agreed-upon timeline. Once the work is received and graded, the instructor will then issue a final grade to the Registrar's Office.
To be eligible for an incomplete, the student must have consistently demonstrated strong academic work prior to the request for an incomplete. Instructors may decline to give an incomplete because of a lack of class attendance and/or a lack of completed work.
If work is not received by the deadline, the instructor will factor in a zero for the missing work and issue a final grade to the Registrar's Office. If no final grade is issued by the deadline for grades replacing incompletes, then the University Registrar will convert the EI/EA grade to a failing grade of E.
Excused Incomplete (EI):
Ordinarily, each student is expected to complete the work in each course before the beginning of the examination period for that semester.
An EI (Excused Incomplete) indicates that the student has made satisfactory academic progress during the semester, and the final paper or project, or some other significant assignment(s), cannot be submitted by the scheduled date. An EI is a documented agreement between the student and instructor granting an extension beyond the end of the semester. The due date should be mutually agreed-upon by the student and instructor, but should not extend past the published deadline for the submission for incomplete work in the academic calendar.
If a student is excused from some academic work, the instructor may either approve an extension or elect to exclude the missing assignments from the final grade. When there is no satisfactory excuse, instructors may factor in zeroes for the missing work and record the resulting final grade.
Approval of the instructor is required for an EI, and the work must be completed by a date stipulated by the instructor and no later than the following dates:
- Fall term incomplete – work due no later than the 10th day of instruction of following Spring term;
- Spring term incomplete – work due no later than the 10th day of instruction of following Summer term;
- Summer term incomplete – work due no later than the 10th day of instruction of following Fall term.
For undergraduates who are on academic probation in a given semester, work must be submitted prior to the Committee on Academic Standing meeting that occurs after the end of that semester. The grade for the course must be filed by the instructor no later than the third week of the next term. Please consult the detailed academic calendar for the specific date all work is due.
Excused Absence (from a final exam):
An EA indicates that the student is not able to take the final exam on the scheduled date. Students who are unable to take their final examinations for legitimate reasons and wish to request a make-up exam must fill out the Incomplete Request Form for approval by their instructor. If approved, the student would agree to take the exam during the conflict resolution period at the end of finals, the make-up exam period at the start of the next semester, or on a date and location agreed upon with the instructor. Arrangements cannot be made to take a final exam prior to the scheduled exam time.
If a student is absent without excuse from a term-end examination and does not obtain authorization for a make-up examination, the student will be given a grade of zero on the exam. The instructor will be asked to supply a grade for the course. If the instructor fails to do so on or before the institutional deadline, the registrar will enter a failing grade on the student's record.
Exam Conflict Resolution:
Students who have three final exams scheduled within 4 consecutive exam periods and not interrupted by a weekend will be allowed to request having one of these exams moved to the Conflict Resolution exam period. Such students do not need to request an incomplete.
Students who have been approved to move a final exam to the conflict resolution exam period do not need to request an incomplete. The rules and regulations regarding conflict resolution exams can be found at: https://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/finals/index.html